The 984-foot-long container ship Dali was refloated and towed back to a dock inside Baltimore harbor on Monday, 54 days after it hit the Key bridge there, sending the center section plummeting into the water, killing six construction workers, and closing the main channel to all traffic. The Dali, and its 21-man crew, had been trapped in the debris ever since.
The Dali was refloated at high tide before 7 a.m. with the help of five tugboats and several other vessels. It was then towed and pushed 2.5 miles back to the Seagirt Marine Terminal. Freeing the Dali from the bridge wreckage means that even commercial ships with deep drafts can enter and exit the busy Port of Baltimore, which handles more imported vehicles than any other port in the United States.
The Unified Command, the umbrella organization in charge of restoring the harbor to normal, said the removal of the Dali signifies “the resumption of commercial transits in and out of the Port of Baltimore.”
The Unified Command said it expects the width of the main channel to soon be a full 400 feet; the depth is 50 feet. Salvage crews will still continue to clear wreckage of the bridge until the channel is restored to its width of 700 feet. The Maryland Transportation Authority will be in charge of removing the steel and concrete wreckage outside the main channel.
Authorities have opened four temporary alternative channels since the bridge collapse, with varying widths and depths. So far, 365 vessels have used them.
A report from the National Transportation Safety Board determined that electrical problems had caused the Dali to lose power and steering before it hit the bridge at 1:29 a.m. on March 26. The problems had started back at its dock and multiplied, until the crew switched from the ship’s usual breakers to an alternate set, which was in use when the Dali hit the bridge.
As the Dali approached the bridge, about six-tenths of a mile away, the breakers tripped at 1:15 a.m., knocking out steering and propulsion. The senior pilot on board ordered the crew to start an emergency generator, which started and then died. He also ordered the crew to drop the port anchor, but the ship hit the bridge first.
The 1.6-mile-long Key Bridge is a vital transportation link in the Baltimore area. Officials say it will take years to rebuild it.
Read more at https://apnews.com/article/baltimore-bridge-collapse-ship-refloating-83dde05d3ad999c88dd5270bb0cea1c6 and see the video below:
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